It was already nighttime.
*knock knock*
"Commander Alice, would you mind speaking to me for a moment?"
…
After a moment, Alice reluctantly opens the door to her private quarters.
She stares at her visitor, while frowning her eyebrows. Seen from the outside, it would seem like a cold stare, but not even her would be able to tell just how many emotions lied behind it.
"Captain-Lieutenant Borauni… I have nothing to discuss with you."
She moves to close the door, but Borauni quickly holds it open with his hand.
"Commander Alice, a moment, please."
"Tch! What is it? Make it fast, I was about to leave."
"I have just received the message with your orders to escort the heroes to the Atmosfera dungeon. And I may not know much about the heroes in your charge… But from what I've seen in these two weeks of training, I don't believe my two are ready yet…"
"They are heroes, Lieutenant. Besides, they'll only need to explore the upper floors. They should be able to do at least this much."
"I don't mean to be disrespectful, Commander Alice. But they 'should' isn't good enough of an answer to send those kids who can't even maintain their expression consistently, much less do a proper conversion, to such a dangerous place."
"But you SHOULD know, Lieutenant, that the demons continue to attack our borders even as we speak, and each passing second means a life lost. These TWO WEEKS of training have already shown my consideration for them, given their circumstances. And I must salient that I was much younger than that, and received much less training before being thrown into real battles by a damn heartless being. All of the while hearing complaints of how much poorer I was when compared to the past heroes! THEY are heroes, Lieutenant, and I expect them to learn fast, or---"
"No Alice. I have no idea of what might be going through your head right now. But you can't allow the past to cloud your judgement. Instead, you should try to learn from it---"
"The past has NOTHING to do with this! You did nothing for me back then, so why would you interfere now!? Just so you can spoil your precious and long-waited-for heroes…?"
"I-I was too young then, too inexperienced. I didn`t have as much authority as I do now… And you were a genius… When our Goddess told me she would like to train you personally… I was blinded by my own vanity… I had no idea that would---"
"Enough excuses! You can`t just justify yourself by saying you didn`t knew!!!"
"I understand… But your reasoning right now clearly isn't impartial! You can`t just make them go through the same! What caused this sudden change of plans!? They were supposed to receive two months of training! And why would you take a vacation leave at such an important time!? It all makes no sense! Please reconsider, Alice!"
"Enough, Lieutenant! Are you questioning my authority as your superior?"
"No, Commander Alice. I merely wanted to give you some advice as your fa---"
"Then know your advice has been heard and rejected."
"You shouldn't---"
"And that is enough. Understood?"
…
"… Yes, Commander. Understood."
"I'm already running late."
Alice leaves.
"Why must pain continue to create more pain…?"
…
…
…
At the corridors, Fumiko was speaking with the guards.
"Stop the bullshit and tell me where she is!"
"Please calm down esteemed hero! Commander Alice has already left. Could we direct you to a different officer?"
"Tch! What do you mean by 'already left'!? Who would travel in the middle of the night!? Tell me where she is!"
"B-but we don't---"
In the midst of the confusion, a familiar voice reaches out to me.
"It's true Fumiko, she has already left."
"Mr. Brownie! You! Did you know about that as well!?"
"No, my name is Borauni, please get it right… But more importantly, calm down, Fumiko. I too have received these orders only just now. It's a good thing I found you. I know it must be hard, but try to get some good sleep tonight. Tomorrow we're going to meet at early morning, so we can give you all an explanation of the procedures and tactics you're going to employ---"
"Hah!?"
I grab him by the collar and stare him in the eyes.
"How can you be so calm about this!? You know we're nowhere near ready yet! What if someone dies!? You don't care---!?"
"Fumiko!!!" Mr. Brownie raises his voice.
I let go of his collar.
When Owari called me a delinquent… Well, I`ll have to admit that back in my old world, I`ve seen my good share of fights.
I've had to beat up many vicious assholes until now, and by rule, they didn't play by the rules. Therefore, instances where I had my life threatened were not rare. Instead, they were actually quite common.
However, this was the first time---
The first time where I felt fear by looking into someone's eyes.
The anger of some random punks could not be compared to that of a veteran soldier from this different and dangerous world.
But was it just anger…?
"I'm sorry Fumiko…" He places his hands on my shoulders. "Of course I care about the two of you. Not only you are the heroes that will save the world, but also my dear students and friends. So please don't say something so hurtful… It's precisely because we're going to do something so dangerous that we must remain calm. If we lose ourselves to desperation on the battlefield, then the next thing we'll lose are our lives. And I promise, I'll not let anything happen to you both."
Mr. Brownie…
"I-I'm so sorry Mr. Brownie…"
"It's alright Fumiko, everything will be alright…"
He pats my head.
It doesn't feel too bad.
But then he hardens his grip.
Huh?
M-my skull is being crushed---!
"But I must emphasize that this was not the proper way to treat a superior in the military hierarchy, understand, Fumiko? It might be okay with me, but if it was someone else, especially Commander Alice, whom you were trying to meet, then things wouldn't end with just this minor scolding, understand!?"
Is this cracking noise I'm hearing just an auditory hallucination, or is it real!?
"As unfortunate as they might seem, superior's orders are absolute. Imagine what would happen if the soldiers began to ignore the orders during battle. It's necessary to have a clear chain of command and for each elm to do it's part. If not, it will certainly break on the weakest point."
If it weren't for this hellish pain in my head, keeping me from focusing properly, I'm certain that Mr. Brownie's words would've sounded really cool right now! It's a shame I couldn't hear anything!
"Understood, Fumiko!?"
"Y-yesh! Ugah!" He finally let`s me go.
Next time, please do that before giving a speech and not after…
…
In such a way, I report back to Owari, and go to sleep in preparation for tomorrow.
…
…
…
Inside the palace of life, the spirit realm currently located inside Sherwood Forest, inhabited by the spirits of life and Sherwood. Kanade had just finished dancing with them.
After playing around for a while, I finally get tired and lay on the grass.
In sequence, I had a conversation with Sherwood, about stupid things, sad things, funny things, irrelevant things and also serious things.
I don't remember the last time I was able to talk with someone, other than my sister, like this. And I would like to say that I was able to evolve on my interpersonal conversational skills. But then again I'm not sure Sherwood can actually be considered a person now, can he?
My stomach finally begins to grumble after all this time.
"So… Where can I get something to eat…?" I ask hopefully.
"Well, if you look to your left or at your back you'll see a bunch of illusions of trees, not really edible if you ask me. If you look in front of you, you'll see a lake, filled with nothing but water, maybe you'll be able to survive for a while with that. Looking up, you'll see the sky, but don't expect any bird to appear. And finally, looking down you'll see a bunch of grass, maybe it would be a nice timing for you to turn vegetarian. From the start I told you there was nothing to eat here, didn't I…?"
…
"lol smartass, and what if I look to my right? It`s a good timing to check out what your body`s made of, right? I should be pretty close to turning into a de@th scythe after that…"
"Haha. You enter my house without permission, then invade my room out of nowhere, and now you`re asking for a free grub? I suggest you don't look to your right, if you do, your eyes might fall from your sockets and your **** will be ***** in your ****."
Scary! This person is scary!
"W-why!? Why would you say such scary stuff with a serious face!? Argh! Does no one here know how to take a joke!?"
"Either way, you've already been here for long enough. I can help you to return. It's been a week in the Goddess world after all."
Huh?
"Huuuuuuhhhh!? One week!? But it hasn't even been one day since I got here!!!"
"Look around you, this is not the same world. It is not the same place. It's not the same space. This is the world of the spirits. It's only natural that the time is also not the same."
Is that so? Does it have something to do with it being some sort of spirit realm? Or is it because it is a different space? Maybe both? Then even if I manage to go back to my own world, 'when' would I return to…? They say that speed has some influence on time, and since the speed is measured by the variation of space… But no, wait, this is way over the physics I was taught in school, and I was bad enough at it. I don't understand…
"Ahhhhhh!!! Screw it!!! If wanted to learn physics then I wouldn't have gone to law school!!! Damn it!!! I'm leaving! Are you coming with me Sherwood!?"
"What!? Me??? I…"
…
…
…
The Goddess spy, Spring, had been patiently waiting for Kanade at the Forest. A week had already went by, and any hope of his return before a hundred years passed had grown thin. Even so, she could do nothing but wait, in accordance to the Goddess' orders. She had mostly resigned herself to her fate. That is until---
!!!
Spring begins to speak aloud, as if she were speaking to someone else, even though she was alone.
"The hero has finally returned, my Goddess. He seems to have completely healed from his injuries and is now heading back to where his camp was located. Should I give his equipment back or should the tests continue?"
In response, Ilias almost instantly manifests herself out of thin air.
"To think someone could return by themselves from the spirits dimension in such little time… Ugh! However, now he is infested by those little pesks…"
…
"You may return his equipment and leave us alone. I'll converse with him."
!!! Spring silently swallows her interjection. "… Understood, my Goddess. And what about the woman?"
"Her test has already been concluded. She'll prove to be a valuable asset in the future. You may bring her back… We'll see about the boy."
Ilias disappears as suddenly as she came.
"To think the Goddess would spend so much of her own time for one person… There must be something different about this man… But from what I've seen so far, the only different thing about him is his foolishness… What else could it be…? Something to do with the spirits…?"
Spring silently ponders for a moment, before turning her attention back to her new orders. Whatever the case, at least now she wouldn't have to stay inside these woods even after retirement.